Wheel guard fastener



I June 6, 1939. R w, HARRQUN 2,161,161

WHEEL GUARD FASTENER Original Filed May is. 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 qINVENTOR. /5' 569) h! Haeeouw.

@WZ M ATTORNEYS 'June 6, R w HARROUN 2,161,161

WHEEL GUARD FASTENER Original Filed May 15, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NVENTOR. 6:; y W fiaeeou/v ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 6, 1939 PATENT OFFICE WHEEL GUARD FASTENER Ray W. Harroun,Detroit, Mich, assignor to Aero- Style Corporation, Anderson, Ind, acorporation of Indiana Original application May 15, 1934, Serial No.

725,783, new Patent No. 2,070,230, dated February '9, 1937.

Divided and this application July 26, 1935, Serial N0. 33,233

3 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in wheelguards.

A recent development in the automobile industry involves a wheel fendercom-prising aside plate or skirt portion that overlies the upper half ofthe wheel and constitutes aguard, such devices being of permanentconstruction and it is the primary object of this invention to design awheel guard in simulation of such construction which may be termeddemountable or removably associated with the ordinary fender fordisengagement therefrom when desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wheel guard of theforegoing character embodying a novel form of clamping mechanism carriedby the guard wall for cooperation with the wheel fender for the rigidreplacement of the wheel guard relative to the fender.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a wheel guardcarrying attaching members for association with a wheel fender whereinthe attaching members are located at the inner side of the guard wallsand are capable of manual operationat either the inner or outer side ofthe guard wall to eiiect placement thereof in position or removal 'froma wheel fender,

The invention further contemplates the use of tensioned latch membersfor attaching a wheel guard. to a fender to compensate for variances infender openings so that the guards may be of standard size for use withfenders of different sizes within a limited range.

With the above and other objects in view that will become apparent asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists inthe novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and claimed.v

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No725,783, filed May 15, 1934, and now Letters Patent numbered 2,070,230,dated Feb. 9; 1937} In the drawings: V r

Figure 1 is'a side elevational view of an automobile wheel fender havingthe improved wheel guard attached thereto;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the wheelguard showing the key block at the outer sideof the guard for theoperation of the latch members at the inner side of the guard;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on line 33 of Figure1, showing a tensioned latch member at the inner side of the guardengaged with the lower flanged edge of a wheel fender; I

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken on line i fl' of Figure 1,showing the latch rod attached to the cam plate at-the inner side of theguard and the key block carrying the cam plate projecting to the outerside of the guard;

Figure -5 is a detail sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a rear elevatiohal view of one of the latch devices forattaching the guard to the wheel fender, the guard and fender beingfragmentarily illustrated Figure 7 is a vertical-sectional view of theguard with the latch device shown in elevation and operatively engagedwith the fender;

' --F-igure B is a fragmentary rear elevational view of another form ofthe invention showing the'ten- I sionin'g means for the latch devicearranged adjacent the cam operating plate and a cooperating hook for thelatch device carried fender; and

Figured) is aver-tical sectional view of the guard'and fendershown inFigure-'8. r

The wheel guard may be referred to as demountable or removable and isadapted for association'wit-h the wheel fender i E! that is ofconventiena'l design, the fender overlying a wheel with the majorportion of the latter exposed and said tender at its lower edge providedaninturned flange H shown in Figures 3' and 7 that can bero-lled on abead ii -desired.

The wheel guard i=2 com-prises a'plate or wall having its upper edge 13curved complemently to the lower curved flanged edge I I of the fenderit and is adapted to overlie the outer side of the fender with a feltstrip 14 interposed between the guard and fender to prevent the marringof the surface o f th-e latter. The guard wall I2 bulges outwardly andcarries an inwardly directed bottom wall it that underlies opposite endsof the fender Ill asshow n in Figure 1. s

The devices for attaching the wheel guard it to the fender it includeamain latch It and au-X- iliary latches l1 positionedas illustrated bydotted lines in'Figur'e 1. Each latch includes a latch plate I 8 havingahook it at its upper end and an apertured flange 2 0 at its lower end.The mounting for the latch plate 18 includes a block 2| secured to theinner iace of the guard wall [2 adjacent its upper curved edge with apair of spaced ears- 22 carried by the block 2 I for the support of .across pin 23 and the latch plate 1'8 intermediate its ends carries apair of side edge ears-24 for the support of a cross pin 25, the probythe jecting ends of the pins 23 and 25 being connected by links 26.

A lever plate 21 is pivotally supported on the wall l2 of the guardadjacent its lower end and substantially midway the opposite ends of thebottom wall I5, the pivotal mounting for the lever plate 2'! being shownmore clearly in Figure 4 as comprising a key block 28 positioned at theouter side of the guard wall l2 and journalled in an opening in the wallwith the lever plate 27 keyed to the inner end of the key block andretained in position thereon by means of the screw and washercombination 29. The connection between the latch plate l8 and the leverplate 21 includes a rod 30 having its lower end pivotally connected asat 3! to the lever plate 21 with the upper end thereof extending throughthe apertured flange 20 at the lower end of the plate I8, the end of therod 30 above the flanged end 20 having a coil spring 32 surrounding thesame and engaged with the flange with the upper end of the coil springengaged by the nut 33 threaded upon the upper end of the rod 30. Anabutment disk 36 carried by the rod 36 adjacent to and below the flangedend 29 of the latch plate l8 acts to move the latch plate upon its linkconnection with the block 2! for disengaging the hook l9 at the upperend of the latch plate from engagement with the flange ll of the fenderl 0. The operating rod 36 for the main latch i6 is directly connected tothe lever plate 21 while the laterally positioned auxiliary laches ll,each have an operating rod 3% associated therewith, with the lower endsof the rods 39a pivotally connected to a cross arm 35 carried by thelower end of the rod 30 as clearly shown in Figures 4, 6 and '7.

The lever plate 21 is of substantially triangular formation and isprovided with an angle flange 36 at one corner thereof for abuttingengagement with the bottom wall I5 of the guard wall when the latchmembers are clampingly engaged with the fender It] and when so disposed,the operating rod 30 for the main latch member 16 has been moved pastdead center as shown in Figure 6 with the spring 32 placed under tensionto prevent accidental operation of the lever plate, and release of thelatch members. With the hooks E9 of the latch plate It engaged with theflange edge i l of the fender l0, pivotal movement of the lever 27results in a downward pull upon the latch members [6 and I! and upwardmovement of the guard wall l2, the latter being limited by the bottomwall l5 thereof engaging with the edge flanges of the fender ll]adjacent opposite ends thereof as shown in Figure 5 for clamping thewheel guard in position, further movement of the lever plate 21 placingthe springs 32 under tension and causing the rod 30 to be shiftedlaterally of the lever plate pivot for retention of the parts in setposition, movement of the lever plate 27 being limited by the cornerflange 36 moving into engagement with the bottom wall E5 of the guardwall. The latch members may be operated from either side of the guardwall l2 by direct operation of the lever plate 21 at the inner side ofthe guard wall or the operation of the key block 28 at the outer side ofthe guard wall through the medium of a socket wrench or the like.

In the form of invention illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, the wheelfender Hia has a beaded or rolled edge H a and has a series of hookplates 40 secured by means of rivets or the like 4| to the inner side ofthe fender Illa with the lower hooked ends 42 of the hook platesextending below the lower edge Ha of the fender. A lever plate 21a ispivotaly mounted at the inner side of the lower end of the guard walll2a by means of the key blocks 28a and the lever plate 21a has one endof an arm 43 pivoted thereto as at 44. An apertured angle flange 45 iscarried by the upper end of the arm 43 and through which the rod 46slidably extends, the arm 43 having a longitudinally extending slottedopening 41 therein intermediate its ends through which the lower angleend 48 of the rod 46 extends for the reception of a disk plate 49 toretain the angle end of the rod in position relative to the arm 43. Thecoil spring 50 surrounds the rod 46 between the angle flange 45 of thearm 43 and an abutment disk 5| on the rod adjacent the lower angle end48. The upper end of the rod 46 extends through an apertured guide 52carried by the inner face of the guard wall Na and is provided upon itsupper end with a hook 53 for engagement with the hook 42 at the lowerend of the hook plate 40. In this form of the invention, the means fortensioning the rod 46 is located adjacent the lower end thereof and inproximity of the lever plate 210. and when the latch device is inclamping position, the pivotal connection 44 between the arm 43 andlever plate 21a is shifted laterally of the lever plate pivot 28a forretaining the latch devices against accidental displacement.

From the above detailed descroiption of the invention, it is believedthat the construction and operation thereof will at once be apparent andwhile there are herein shown and described the preferred embodiments ofthe invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changesmay be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, positioning and fastening meansfor a guard wall adapted to close the side opening of an automobilewheel fender, said guard wall adapted to overlie the curved edge of thefender and be disposed laterally of the fender for slidable overlappingmovement relative to the fender, and comprising extensions at the lowerends of the guard wall extending beneath the fender for engagementtherewith, means pivotally carried by the guard wall and movablelaterally thereof for engagement with the fender for moving the guardwall in an upward and inward direction towards the fender for bindinglysecuring the guard wall in position on the fender, and a single meanscarried by said closure for actuating said means in unison.

2. In a latch structure for a wheel closure memher for vehicles of thetype having a fender with an inturned edge defining a wheel opening anda guard wall adapted to be removably secured to said fender, meanshaving a main operating rod mounted for slidable movement relative tothe guard wall, and a hook member resiliently mounted on the end of saidmain rod and pivotally connected to said guard Wall, said connectionbeing such that the movement of said hook member will be upwardly andinwardly about said pivot to clear said inturned edge of the fender andwill also move said hook member downwardly and inwardly about said pivotto engage said inturned edge, and means on said guard wall for limitingthe movement of said hook member away from said guard Wall whereby saidhook member is subjected to tensioning action when moved into operativeposition.

3. Positioning and fastening means for a wheel closure member forvehicles of the type having a fender with an inturned edge defining awheel opening and a guard wall adapted to be removably secured to saidfender, the upper edge of the guard wall being freely movable relativeto the edge of the fender and the lower ends of the guard wall havingmeans for contacting the fender for locating the guard wall relativethereto, comprising latch means having a portion thereof pivotallyconnected to the guard wall and movable laterally relative to the guardwall and around said inturned edge of the fender to move the guard wallin an inward and upward direction whereby to make positive the contactbetween the ends of the guard wall and the fender and to hold the upperedge of the guard wall against the edge of the fender, and means on saidguard wall for limiting the movement of said latch means away from saidwall whereby said latch is subjected to a tensioning action when RAY W.HARROUN.

